An ongoing effort

Johann Maree

Delivering service in such a way that your clients appreciate all your efforts is without a doubt one of the greatest challenges that financial advisers
face today.

Clients have become more demanding. Retention is often a key focus area for top advisers because they know that lost clients have a huge impact on bottom line profitability. It has been estimated that getting a new client can cost up to six times what it takes to retain an existing one.

Read more: The new client service model

Davos results inconclusive

The world is experiencing a statistical economic recovery, but a human recession. That is how United States President Barack Obama’s economic adviser Larry Summers, at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, aptly described the global economic scene in the face of tentative signs of its emerging from the worst recession in more than 70 years. There were plenty commitments but few concrete plans on the table at the end of the four-day summit, with probably the only clear result that the world is heading for stronger regulation of the financial industry aimed at averting a next crisis and saving powerful politicians’ bacon.

Read more: Bank regulation

Dealing with financial aftershocks

While there are increasing signs that the world is emerging from the deep 2008/2009 economic recession, there are also plenty of signs that the impact of the recession will be felt for a long time to come – among others, in the fundamentals of how the economy is structured and in the realm of the regulatory environment. For now, major banks at the recently held meeting of the World Economic Forum apparently have softened their stance on regulation, but it is becoming clear that new accounting standards to simplify financial asset reporting and make it more transparent are likely to be of the first new regimes of the post-recession world.

Read more: Asset management

New order for BANKSETA Council

The BANKSETA has appointed Eugene Ebersohn as its new Council chairperson. As Sipho Ngidi’s tenure as BANKSETA chairperson ends, he has handed over the reins to the finance union SASBO’s assistant general-secretary, who has also practised labour relations after completing his studies at the University of Pretoria. was asked to fill the role.

Read more: Banking skills